Perhaps the biggest compliment I can pay the creators of Parking Wars, one of several absolutely fascinating reality series currently airing on cable channel A&E, is that if I should happen to get a ticket in the next few months, I'll probably be a lot less hostile about it.

While most reality shows are more concerned with gross-out stunts and the celebration of the most infantile and thick-brained among us, I relish programs like these, that take you inside the most mundane professions (more than once, I was reminded of A&E's equally compelling Airline, which tracks employees of Southwest Airlines during their harried day-to-day experiences) and reveal the warm, funny and ambitious people typically regarded as faceless, soulless drones.

Chronicling the various aspects of Philadelphia's Parking Authority -- from parking enforcers patrolling the streets and doling out tickets to the tireless souls manning the impound lot -- Parking Wars debuted in January 2008 and endeavors to give viewers a sense of a car's journey through the system. It's fascinating stuff, if a bit dry at times, but watching these men and women work exerts a strange pull. If nothing else, it provides a glimpse of a service that most people probably never, ever think about -- and that's what reality TV should aspire toward, right?

Many times, the PPA employees find themselves in wholly unpleasant situations, which the show does not shy away from but does not glorify, but they soldier on, since (as more than one parking employee says) "someone's gotta do it." People piled into cars is just one element in the pulse of a major city, so to isolate how it effects everything else and watch how keeping streets clear during rush hour or towing cars that have sat dormant for too long allows for uninterrupted traffic flow -- a bit odd, maybe, but if Tila Tequila can keep getting air time, why not the PPA?

Over the course of 17 half-hour episodes (only seven from the show's first season are included here), Parking Wars also nominally focuses on those who cross paths with the PPA, and unfortunately, the reactions are what you'd expect from folks who just got ticketed or just had their car towed. There are the rare few who actually earn your sympathy, but it's almost as much fun watching people try to wriggle out of getting a ticket as it is watching the PPA employees' unflappable calm in handing them out. Parking Wars will probably never be a huge hit, but for those who seek it out, it's a rewarding, occasionally hilarious half-hour of television.

The Video:

Presented as originally broadcast on A&E, these seven episodes of Parking Wars are offered in 1.78:1 non-anamorphic widescreen transfers that don't exhibit any discernible visual flaws -- the show is filmed on digital video, so there are a few instances of motion blur or pixilation, but that owes more to the source material than the transfer.

Again, as originally broadcast, these seven episodes are outfitted with perfectly serviceable Dolby 2.0 stereo tracks that manage to convey score, dialogue and ambient sound effects without dissolving into sonic chaos. There are no subtitle options, but any particularly choice asides that are muffled or otherwise inaudible are helpfully subtitled.

The only bonus feature is 34 minutes and 55 seconds of additional scenes, presented in non-anamorphic widescreen. The scenes ranged from amusing (following native Philadelphian Brian around; he's got a bit of a thing against New Jersey) to a little weird (people freestyling about the parking authority).

Perhaps the biggest compliment I can pay the creators of Parking Wars, one of several absolutely fascinating reality series currently airing on cable channel A&E, is that if I should happen to get a ticket in the next few months, I'll probably be a lot less hostile about it. Parking Wars will probably never be a huge hit, but for those who seek it out, it's a rewarding, occasionally hilarious half-hour of television. Recommended.